Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson (16 December 1926 – 9 April 2014; known as A. N. R. or "Ray" Robinson), was the third

President of Trinidad and Tobago The president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is the head of state of Trinidad and Tobago and the commander-in-chief of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1976, before w ...

, serving from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was also Trinidad and Tobago's third

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, serving in that capacity from 18 December 1986 to 17 December 1991. He is recognized for his proposal that eventually led to the founding of the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...

. Robinson was the first active politician to be elected to the Presidency, and was the first presidential candidate who was not elected unopposed (the Opposition

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections sinc ...

nominated Justice

Anthony Lucky Anthony Amos Lucky (born 11 May 1940) is a judge of the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. As a retired Court of Appeal Judge, Anthony served in the legal system of Trinidad and Tobago as a magistrate for ten years prior ...

as its candidate for president). President Robinson sparked controversy in his term in office when he refused to appoint certain senators recommended by Prime Minister

Basdeo Panday Basdeo Panday (; born 25 May 1933) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, actor, and former civil servant who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first ...

following the elections in 2000 and in 2001 when he appointed the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Patrick Manning Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning (17 August 1946 – 2 July 2016) was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 Ma ...

to the position of prime minister after a tied election.

Early life

Robinson was born in Tobago in 1926 to James and Isabella Robinson. He was educated at Castara Methodist School (where his father served as

head master A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

) and

Bishop's High School A bishop is a person of authority in a Christian church. Bishop, Bishops or Bishop's may also refer to: Religious roles * Bishop (Catholic Church) * Bishop (Eastern Orthodox Church) * Bishop (Latter Day Saints) * Bishop (Methodism) Places An ...

, where he obtained a Higher School Certificate with distinction in Latin and competed for an Island Scholarship. He obtained a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

as an external student. In 1951 he left for the United Kingdom, where he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

and obtained a degree in philosophy, politics and economics from St. John's College, Oxford. Robinson returned to Trinidad and Tobago, where he practised as a

Barrister-at-Law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

. Robinson married Patricia Rawlins and had two children, David and Ann-Margaret.

Political life

Robinson was a founding member of the

and served in the parliament of the

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that ...

between 1958 and 1960. In 1961 he was elected to the

Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. Besides the President of Trinidad and Tobago, it is composed of the House of Representatives, which is compose ...

, serving as

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Tobago. He was the country's

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1961 to 1966. Following the

Black Power Revolution Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

in 1970, Robinson resigned from the People's National Movement and formed the Action Committee of Dedicated Citizens, which joined forced with the Democratic Labour Party to contest the 1971 General Elections; Robinson and the DLP ended up boycotting the elections in protest over the use of voting machines. After the 1971 election, the Action Committee of Dedicated Citizens became the

Democratic Action Congress The Democratic Action Congress (DAC) was a Tobago-based political party in Trinidad and Tobago. History The party was established in 1971 by A. N. R. Robinson, and was originally an autonomist party. It first contested general elections in 1976, ...

which won both Tobago seats in the 1976 General Elections. As leader as the DAC, Robinson worked for internal self-government for Tobago, culminating in the passage of the Tobago House of Assembly Act in 1980. Robinson resigned from Parliament to contest the

Tobago House of Assembly The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is a unicameral devolved legislative body responsible for the island of Tobago within the unitary state of Trinidad and Tobago. The THA was re-established in 1980

elections, and became the Chairman of the Assembly following victory by the DLP. He had also proposed the idea of the International Court. In 1981 Robinson allied with the

United Labour Front The United Labour Front (ULF) was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago and the main opposition party between 1976 and 1986. It was a successor to the Democratic Labour Party and the Workers and Farmers Party. History The party was establishe ...

under the leadership of

, and the

Tapia House Movement The Tapia House Movement was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. It first contested national elections in 1976, when it finished fourth with 3.9% of the vote, but failed to win a seat. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handb ...

, under the leadership of

Lloyd Best Lloyd Algernon Best, OCC (27 February 1934 – 19 March 2007) was a Trinidadian intellectual, columnist, professor, and economist. Biography Lloyd Best first attended the Tacarigua Anglican School. He then won a Government Exhibition Scholarshi ...

, to form the

National Alliance for Reconstruction The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) was the governing party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1986 and 1991. The party has been inactive since 2005. History The party was established in 1986, aiming to be a multi-racial party. Nohlen, D ...

. It entered into an alliance with the

Organisation for National Reconstruction The Organisation for National Reconstruction (ONR) was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party received the second-highest number of votes in the 1981 general elections, but failed to win a seat. Prior to the 1986 elections it merged ...

, under the leadership of

Karl Hudson-Phillips Karl Terrence Hudson-Phillips, ORTT, QC (20 April 1933 – 16 January 2014) was an Attorney-General of Trinidad and Tobago and a judge of the International Criminal Court. He was also lead counsel in the murder trial of Grenadian Prime Minis ...

, to successfully fight the

1983 Trinidad and Tobago local elections The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. Building on this victory the four parties combined to form the

. ANR Robinson went on to become prime minister through the National Alliance For Reconstruction. Shortly after assuming the position, he dismissed Basdeo Panday, John Humphrey, and Kelvin Ramnath from the Cabinet. However, Robinson subsequently lost the 1991 elections. He rejoined the UNC Administration as a coalition member representing the NAR. Panday later offered to nominate him to become the next President of Trinidad and Tobago. Robinson was instrumental in the creation of the

. In 1989, he asked

Benjamin Ferencz Benjamin Berell Ferencz (born March 11, 1920) is an American lawyer. He was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the chief prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the 12 Subsequent Nuremb ...

and Robert Kurt Woetzel to assist in drafting a proposal for the UN General Assembly to ask the UN's

International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...

to study the possibility of creating the International Criminal Court. The resolution was presented on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago at the UN General Assembly in June 1989, leading to the adoption of the

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

in July 1998 and creation of the International Criminal Court on 1 July 2002.

Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt

During the 1990 ''coup d'état'' attempt by the

Jamaat al Muslimeen The Jamaat al Muslimeen (, also transliterated as Jamaat-ul Muslimeen or Jama'at al-Muslimeen, ''"School of Muslims", "Group of Muslims", "The Muslim Group", "The Muslim Assembly", "The Muslim Society", "The Muslim Community"'') is a radical extr ...

, Robinson and much of his cabinet were held hostage for six days by gunmen under the leadership of

Yasin Abu Bakr Yasin Abu Bakr (born Lennox Philip; 19 October 1941 – 21 October 2021) was a Trinidad and Tobago religious leader who led the Jamaat al Muslimeen, a Muslim group in Trinidad and Tobago. The group staged an attempted ''coup d’état'' in 1990. ...

. When instructed to order the army to stop firing on the Red House, where they were held hostage, Robinson instead instructed them to "attack with full force," an action which led to him getting beaten by his captors. He was also shot in his leg.

Illness and death

Robinson suffered from a number of ailments including a stroke and prostate complications and was hospitalised at St. Clair Medical Hospital after he complained of feeling ill. Following an illness of several months, he died at St. Clair Medical Centre at about 6:00 am on 9 April 2014. In reaction, Prime Minister

Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Persad-Bissessar ( ; born Kamla Susheila Persad, 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, politica ...

said that he was "one of our nation's outstanding sons...but the legacy he leaves behind shall surely live on to inspire today's and tomorrow's generations."

Honours

In 1997 Robinson was awarded the

Trinity Cross The Trinity Cross (abbreviated T.C.) was the highest of the National Awards of Trinidad and Tobago, between the years 1969 and 2008. It was awarded for: "distinguished and outstanding service to Trinidad and Tobago. It was awarded for gallantry ...

, at that time the highest order of Trinidad and Tobago. During the investiture of President

Thomas Boni Yayi Thomas Boni Yayi (born 1 July 1951) is a Beninese banker and politician who was President of Benin from 2006 to 2016. He took office after winning the March 2006 presidential election and was re-elected to a second term in March 2011. He also s ...

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

as a titled

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categori ...

on 20 December 2008, the reigning Ooni of Ile-Ife,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Olubuse II Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade, or Sijuade, (1 January 1930 – 28 July 2015) was the fiftieth traditional ruler or ''Ooni'' of Ife from 1980 to his death in 2015, taking the regnal name Olubuse II. Ife is a traditional Yoruba state based in th ...

, referred to President Robinson and his wife as previous recipients of the same royal honour. In May 2011, the airport in Tobago was renamed the A. N. R. Robinson International Airport, replacing the name "Crown Point International Airport". In November 2011, A. N. R. Robinson was the recipient of Tobago's highest award, the Tobago Medal of Honour.

References

External links

A. N. R. Robinson's government biographyNotice of death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, A. N. R. 1926 births 2014 deaths Prime Ministers of Trinidad and Tobago Presidents of Trinidad and Tobago Foreign ministers of Trinidad and Tobago Finance ministers of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Christians 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago lawyers Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Members of the House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago) Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London People from Tobago People's National Movement politicians Democratic Action Congress politicians National Alliance for Reconstruction politicians Members of the Tobago House of Assembly Members of the Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation Recipients of the Order of the Caribbean Community